March 19, 2012

What a game. If the Washington Capitals could play the Detroit Red Wings 82 times a year, we’d be happy campers. After that tremendous 7-1 thrashing back in October, the Caps’ fortunes shifted dramatically. But here we are again– late in the campaign– and the Caps have that spark. If only they could keep it glowing for a full hour of hockey.

Marcus Johansson delivered a perfect pass to Alex Ovechkin, who fired a perfect one-timer from the perfect spot. Mike Knuble made it 2-0 by finishing off a smart passing sequence with Jason Chimera and Mathieu Perreault. Ovechkin got another by skating around the trainwreck in front of Jimmy Howard and wristing it. Kyle Quincey got one back in the second period with a long bomb that rang iron, but Keith Aucoin nullified with a spin-o-rama made possible by Alex Semin.

Just half a minute into the third, Todd Bertuzzi beat Holtby’s slow glove hand to give Detroit some life. Danny Cleary crashed Holtby’s net to make it 4-3, and things got tense. Jason Chimera defused it with an empty netter. Caps beat Wings 5-3.

The Capitals’ big night in Detroit marked an important milestone for a player dear to this blog’s collective heart. Alex Semin recorded his 400th career point when he assisted Keith Aucoin’s spin-o-rama.

CSN-DC commemorated the moment by isolating Sasha on the bench, where he was deep in thought. About something. And to amp up the creepiness, they zoomed. Ladies and gentlemen, we proudly present — straight from Peter Robbio’s Youtube page — the most absurd video we’ve ever seen.

We’re not getting paid for this or anything*, but this video is so demented it screams for a signal boost. StubHub’s Ticket Oak campaign ran a commercial during the Caps-Hawks game, which we’re mostly trying to forget. Something about the ticket hair, or the tree’s cheeseball voice, or the strabismus at the end– it just sticks with you.

Next time I’m looking for after-market tickets (which will also be the first time), this delightfully creepy memory will reassert itself and then StubHub will have their precious viewer-to-customer conversion. Damn them.

World: more weird stuff like this, please.

* NOTE: If you want to pay us or something, we’re like totally listening.

Pre-après-Game: PuckBuddy Craig sorta demolished me with his last post, mixing the most potent juvenile jeers (“You smell like butt“) with contemporary culture (The Godfather) and hockey insights in the juicerizer that yours truly has been refining for months.

Whaaa…butt why dat? Well, because Craig, unlike Doug, went hunting for a stick-tap from Uncle Ted on how brilliant his pregamer was. Nice. No matter that he stole from me for months – blogging versions of the Winnipeg Head-Crash – or that I’ve been telling our opponents they smell like ass since October. But , boohoo, what’s an obvious foul between frenemies?

I kid. And yet in seriouslyness, between these partners there is no other game that divides the PuckBuddys like Monday’s test of the Caps against the Wings.